Britannia Radio

German Demographers

2010/12/01

BERLIN

(Own report) - German government advisors call for deliberately influencing the demographic development in the so called third world. According to a recently published paper by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), family planning measures should be supported in poor countries to effectively prevent undesirable migratory movements. This will combat the uncontrolled growth of shanty towns - with their potential for engendering conflict - and lead to a reduction of emigration. The SWP is also pleading for support of the development of urban infrastructures in Africa, Latin America and Asia to prevent new conflicts that could be caused by rapid population growth in urban peripheries and disturb Western firms' business activities in these areas. Within the centers of Western affluence, the authors of the SWP paper are proposing family-friendly measures, aimed at preventing the shrinking of local populations. According to the SWP analysis, this is needed to strengthen the human potential of Germany and its allies in the global competition.

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Europe's Zero Hour

2010/11/30

BERLIN/DUBLIN

(Own report) - Impressed by the pending national bankruptcies in Portugal and Spain, the German discussion about withdrawing from the European currency is becoming more accentuated. According to observers, the question of "how much is it worth to Germany to keep the Euro," has "become one of the most difficult evaluations that a German government has ever had to confront." "Both the upkeep and the demise of the common currency" could equally "lead to very high losses." And time is running out, write business columnists, "we must enter the debate. Now." The discussion is focused on not only the establishment of a uniform EU economic government or the reversion to national currencies, but also on the division of Europe into a strong (northern European) and a weak (southern European) Euro and even on the factual exclusion of the weakest countries of Southern Europe. An economist at the University of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg warned that generally, the current development "can hardly be planned by policy makers". Even an uncontrolled "chaotic collapse" of the Euro system is possible.

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Disastrous for China

2010/11/25

PYONGYANG/SEOUL/BERLIN

(Own report) - Following the armed confrontation at the maritime border between South and North Korea, Berlin has increased pressure on Pyongyang. The German foreign ministry announced, it had summoned the North Korean ambassador Wednesday and protested against the deadly shelling of the Yeonpyeong Island. The escalation at the disputed maritime border was a setback for German efforts to reach unification between North and South Korea. For years, Germany has been pursuing this objective. Berlin is not only hoping to have more influence on the Korean Peninsular - claiming that in questions of reunification their qualifications are unrivaled - but also to gain comprehensive geo-strategic advantages over China. North Korea, according to Chinese experts, serves as a "buffer zone" between the People's Republic of China and the US troops stationed in South Korea. On the other hand, for years, Germany has been furnishing South Korea with weaponry. South Korea is at the top of Germany's list of customers for its combat material - most recently in first place.

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War Strategies (II)

2010/11/23

BERLIN/WASHINGTON/CANBERRA

(Own report) - NATO is incessantly continuing its expansion and is extending its worldwide alliance system in preparation for future wars. This is gleaned from the military pact's new "Strategic Concept", according to which, NATO will intensify and broaden its various "partnerships"; show a stronger presence on the Arabian Peninsular and consolidate cooperation with countries of Eastern Asia and the Pacific Basin. Initiated already in the 1990s, this project aims at the long-term assurance of Western global predominance. According to an analysis by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), NATO's activities, particularly in Eastern Asia and the Pacific realm are colliding with the interests of the People's Republic of China. An escalation of long-standing tensions between the West and Beijing are expected. In this context, cooperation between NATO and Moscow is aimed at preventing an eventual alliance between Russia and China.

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Water as a Weapon

2010/11/19

BERLIN/ABU DHABI/RIYADH

(Own report) - The German Development Ministry supports the rearmament policy of the countries of the Arabian Peninsular. The ministry is also using resources from the state's "development aid programs" for a giant underground drinking water reservoir in the United Arab Emirates. The reservoir will be especially protected against "foreign attack" and is intended to insure the water supply for Abu Dhabi in "a crisis situation". The German Association for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), operating under the auspices of the Development Ministry and Dornier Consulting, a subsidiary of the German-European arms manufacture EADS, are participating in the project, which runs parallel to other Western sponsored anti-Iran arms build-up projects in the Emirates. Similar projects are planned for Saudi Arabia, where EADS will also install a comprehensive "border security control system", aimed at preventing the "infiltration" of "terrorists" from Yemen and Iraq.

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Management with a Crowbar

2010/11/16

BERLIN/ATHENS/LISBON

(Own report) - The German chancellor is linking the perspective of the Euro to the persistence of peace in Europe. "If the Euro fails, Europe fails" and ultimately the "European ideal of peace", Merkel said yesterday in reference to the growing resistance to German demands for dealing with the debt crisis. Berlin's Euro-dictates are provoking growing anger in various Euro nations. For example, the Greek prime minister accuses the German government of provoking an escalation of the crisis in Ireland and Portugal with its current plans for regulating national bankruptcies. Similar accusations are to be heard in Dublin. In Lisbon, a withdrawal from the Euro is no longer seen as out of the question. Already at the beginning of the month, French government circles were insinuating that criticism of German policy is no longer possible. It is not even sure, if Berlin still cares about European integration. Warning that continued resistance could jeopardize peace in Europe, Germany has already tried to impose its demands for re-structuring the EU - most recently following the democratic refusal of the "EU Constitution", the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty.

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Militarizing the Arctic

2010/11/15

OSLO/BERLIN

(Own report) - The German government is broadening its military policy engagement into the Arctic region. According to reports following a meeting of several Northern European and the Baltic region defense ministers - with Germany attending for the first time - the participating countries are seeking to enhance their military cooperation. Their cooperation should include joint military maneuvers in the High North, the Norwegian defense minister reported. The melting of the Polar Cap over the next few decades will not only provide access to the natural resource deposits buried under the Arctic Ocean, but also open new maritime trade routes toward the booming regions of Eastern Asia. German transport vessels are already using large parts of these routes to supply Western Siberia. With the growing role played by the military aspect, Berlin has, already since some time, been trying to win influence in the political dispute over Arctic hegemony. Observers note the beginnings of an arms race in the Arctic. Germany seeks to broaden its influence via the EU and its close cooperation with Norway. To optimize its controlling capacities in the North, Norway has recently moved its Operational Command Headquarters from the south to the Northern part of the country.

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Everything that Serves Germany

2010/11/08

BUDAPEST/BERLIN

(Own report) - Hungary will exercise its upcoming EU council presidency, starting at the beginning of 2011, in the service of Berlin's foreign policy. This was announced by the Hungarian Foreign Minister after talks with his German counterpart. "As council president" his country will "support everything that serves Germany," said János Martonyi last week during his visit to the German capital. Budapest's duties in the first half of 2011 include the initiation of a strategy for expanding German business to Southeast Europe (Danube Strategy), as well as intensify the debate on "ethnic minority rights" along the lines of the German model, which Hungary is promoting in direct coordination with the "Sudeten German Homeland Association". Observers are warning that Budapest is not only instituting an ethnic oriented foreign policy, it is also bringing about an ethnic-chauvinist reorientation of domestic policy - including the reversion to ethnic-mythical 19th century "Lebensraum" (living space) ideologies. According to them, Hungary, one of Germany's closest allies in the EU, is proceeding to create an "authoritarian order".

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The New German Question (III)

2010/11/04

BERLIN

(Own report) - The debate taking place in Berlin, concerning an end of the "European order established with the Maastricht Treaty," is accompanied by wide-ranging reflections on a domestic reorganization of Germany. As the German chancellor announced in her address to the "Integration Summit" yesterday, immigrants, who do not take advantage of the integration offers, will have to expect sanctions, which increases the pressure, particularly on the immigrant lower classes, who are, momentarily, the focus of a racist campaign ("the Sarrazin Debate"). Several more far-reaching demands are being raised. For some in the Berlin establishment, none of these steps explicitly directed at alleged unproductive groups in the population, have gone far enough. A high-ranking advisor to the German Council on Foreign Affairs (DGAP), for example, is quoted saying that "drastic measures," that "will be unacceptable to the current generation of politicians," must be taken against the immigrants. The considerations aimed at promoting Germany's domestic restructuring are flanking a debate on a possible end of the European Union, and on Berlin's eventual unilateral attempt for global power. For months there has been talk of reverting to dictatorial methods.

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The New German Question (I)

2010/11/02

BERLIN/WASHINGTON

(Own report) - German foreign policy makers are debating whether the "European Order constituted with the Maastricht Treaty" has ended. In Berlin "the impression is growing stronger" that Germany believes it can "advance by itself faster, further and better" rather than in the European network, according to a recently published think tank discussion paper by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). According to the paper, in their struggle for shares of the global market, the "industrial elites" of the former West Germany have "long since turned their attention away from Europe". The European integration paradigm that had formed the basis of West German foreign policy since 1949, has, "except in official rhetoric," greatly diminished in significance. According to the paper, "even sober-minded discussion partners" in other EU countries, have begun to raise the question of, "whether one should be apprehensive about a new nationalist Germany." At the same time, transatlantic ties are losing the cohesiveness they once had. This means that "two coherent peaceful orders, which had been decisive for the 20th Century are in decline," assesses the ECFR. The focus of this shift, according to the think tank, is Germany's rise in power since 1990, which raises the issue of "a new 'German question' for the 21st Century."

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